The Mafia’s Revenge

| 2 | I'm here.

Emeliana drives towards the hospital as quickly and safely as possible, speeding down the road carefully not to hit any cars and put Adriano in any more discomfort. After a few minutes they finally reach the hospital and the only reason they reached so fast is because of how fast she was driving. Emeliana quickly finds a parking spot and brings the car to a stop, turning the car off and removing her seatbelt and keys, putting it her purse, looking at Adriano to see that he is breathing slowly and has his eyes closed, making Emeliana panic as she reaches over to shake him.

“Adriano, I’m going inside to get some help, please hold on okay?” Emeliana begs him just as he slowly nods at her, letting her know that he’s still conscious. Emeliana then takes off her heels and unlocks the car door, stepping out, closing it and running barefoot towards the entrance of the hospital, making all that are walking around stare at her like she’s completely crazy. She walks into the hospital and glances around before her eyes land on a black woman with a thick short black afro and glasses, standing behind the reception and typing something on a computer before she puts some files away. Emeliana wastes no time and runs towards the woman making the woman stare questionably at Emeliana.

“Excuse me, ma’am, please don’t run-” The woman is about to scold Emeliana but she quickly cuts her off.

“I know but, it’s an emergency, please, you have to help me… my friend has been shot…” Emeliana rushes out in a panic and the woman’s face changes completely, a frown appearing on her face as she quickly picks up her phone.

“Oh no, okay where is the victim…?” The woman asks as she quickly dials a number on her telephone.

"In my car but you have to hurry please, he's bleeding out fast…“ Emeliana’s voice cracks as more tears well in her eyes and stream down her face.

"Okay, we’ll help him right away…“ The woman assures Emeliana before she begins to speak to someone on the phone quickly, explaining the situation to them and asking them to bring a few equipment. After a few moments, 2 men rushing out of a room with a stretcher and walk towards Emeliana.

“She’ll take you to him…” The woman tells them and Emeliana nods quickly before she begins to jog back to the entrance of the hospital just as the men follow after her. They get outside and make their way over to the car where Adriano is, opening the door carefully just as Adriano slowly falls out but one of the medics quickly grab him, two of them carefully lifting him out of the car and placing him onto the stretcher…

All Emeliana can do is watch as they strap him into a stretcher and take him back into the hospital, just as a female doctor walks towards them just as soon as they enter, dressed in a clear white coat and a black dress underneath. She is tall, having sharp green eyes and shiny black hair tied up into a bun, a worried expression resting on her face she walks towards them, keeping her gaze on Adriano.

“Okay, what have we got here…?” The doctor frowns as she eyes Adriano, walking beside him as the medics continue to push him along the stretcher.

“The victim is male, appears to be in his 20’s, caucasian, a single gunshot wound to his abdomen with no signs of an exit wound.” One of the men says as they quickly push through the hallway, Emeliana following after them as well.

“Then the bullet is still there, we have to start surgery right away…” Emeliana hears them say as they continue to discuss amongst themselves.

“I-Is he going to be okay?” Emeliana asks them and the doctor turns to face Emeliana, making her come to a stop as she tries to keep her eyes on Adriano.

“We’ll only know for sure after the surgery. Now please ma'am, remain here, let us do our jobs…” The doctor tells Emeliana softly and Emeliana nods at the doctor, her face contorting even more as she fails to hold back her tears, her fear of Adriano actually dying completely overwhelming her body.

"Okay, please just help him... please..." Emeliana chokes as her voice breaks and the doctor nods at Emeliana briefly before she begins to back away.

"We will try our very best." The Doctor assures her before she turns around and rushes off through the double doors, following after Adriano and the other medics.

Emeliana remains in the same spot, tears continuing to flow down her cheeks just as she places her hand over her mouth and whimpers quietly, trying all she can to hold back her tears.

“Ma’am…?” She hears a familiar voice call and she turns around to see the woman from the reception approaching her worriedly, placing her hands on Emeliana’s bare arms.

“Come with me please, you appear to be in shock…” The woman says softly and Emeliana crosses her arms and grasps onto her torso, feeling a little cold considering she is still in her black dress, one that has her arms exposed as well as her legs, the dress stopping mid-thigh, not to mention she left her shoes in the car so she is walking around barefoot…

“Is there anyone you can call, I don’t think you should be alone right now…” The woman asks Emeliana as she leads her to a seating area where there are only a few people sitting around, each around different parts of the room.

“Uh, yeah… I-I’ll call them right now…” Emeliana mumbles as she sniffles quietly, finally reaching a chair and slowly taking a seat.

“Okay, stay put okay, your friend is in good hands, he’s going to be just fine… let me get you some water…” The woman tells Emeliana and Emeliana nods at the woman without saying another word, appreciating how nice she is being to her. She watches as the woman walks away and Emeliana sits there, her gaze focusing in nothing particular as her mind plays back at that happened tonight, and as she thinks about it more, she can help but feel the guilt eat her alive from the inside out…

This is her fault…

This is all her fault…

She bites back her lip to stop herself from crying even more as she reaches into her purse with shaky hands, grabbing hold of her phone and unlocking it quickly. She then goes through her contact list as dials Luca’s number, placing her phone by her ear and listening to it ring…

A moment passes and there is still no answer and it makes Emeliana believe that he either doesn’t want to answer her calls because he is upset that she went against what he told her. That or his sorting the whole situation with Mattia… as well as Calvino’s body…

Calvino’s body…

She sucks in a slow breath before she abruptly cuts the call, knowing that Luca most likely has his hands full at the moment and there’s no use in calling, and so she decides to call someone else.

She goes through her recently dialled numbers and calls a particular number, her eyebrows creasing as she places her hand over her mouth to try to keep herself from making any noise…

“Hey, finally you called… everything going okay?” Demetrio’s voice sounds on the other side of the call, being relieved to finally get a call from Emeliana.

“Demetrio?” Emeliana says quietly, her voice breaking slightly, making Demetrio go silent for a few seconds, and it doesn’t take long for him to realise that something is horribly wrong.

“Tell me what’s wrong…” Demetrio asks her and that question alone makes it harder for her to stop herself from crying even more.

“Just please come to the hospital… Evstone memorial…” Emeliana whimpers as she folds herself and rests her elbows on her knees, her head hanging low, her tone coming and high and quiet.

“Okay, f**k… I’m on my way. But what happened… are you okay?” Demetrio asks her and she shakes her head a few times and squeezes her eyes shut.

“No… please just hurry, I need you…” She says quietly and in this single moment, she feels completely alone…

“I’m on way Emi, just sit tight…” Demetrio tells her just as she nods to herself and sniffles quietly.

“Okay…” She answers before she finally pulls the phone away and cuts the line, crossing her arms as she takes in slow breaths to try and keep herself calm, feeling her head pump painfully from all her crying. After a while, she watches as the woman from before watches her with a glass of cold water in her hand.

“Here you go, sweetie…” The woman says softly as she sits down next to Emeliana and hands her glass of water.

“Thank you…” Emeliana tells her just as she takes the water from her hand and sips it slowly, sighing to herself as she feels the water run her throat.

“You’re welcome… what’s your name?” The woman asks.

“Emeliana… Emeliana Delassaro…” Emeliana tells the lady just as she pays close attention to her.

“Okay, I’m Jojo… and I’m really sorry this has happened,” Jojo tells Emeliana and Emeliana keeps her eyes on the glass she is holding, feeling the condensation against her fingertips.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too…” She mumbles to herself but she is still loud enough for Jojo to hear her…

“What does that mean? Who shot your friend…?” Jojo asks and Emeliana becomes slightly nervous, knowing that she’s not supposed to expose the business of the Underground to outsiders, and so she needs to make up a lie…

“Uhm... I don’t know… i-it was a hit and run… I didn’t see the person’s face…” Emeliana mumbles quietly, not wanting to have to lie to the woman, but she knows it’s necessary.“… You don’t have to keep me company, my friend is on his way already…” Emeliana continues to say, lifting her head to look at the woman, finding her staring at Emeliana curiously.

“Okay good. I have to get back to work now…” Jojo says as she stands to her feet and keeps her eyes on Emeliana. “You let me know if you need anything okay?” Jojo tells Emeliana, smiling at her softly.

“Okay, thank you so much…” Emeliana tells the woman, looking at her through puffy eyes and watching as she begins to walk away and head back to the reception…

Emeliana sighs to herself before she gulps down her water, up until the glass is empty, wincing slightly as she feels her head thump painfully…

Meanwhile…

After about exactly 15 minutes, Demetrio arrives at Evstone Memorial, parking his car and rushing into the hospital, going straight for the front desk to ask for help where he would find Jojo continuing to work behind the desk, her eyes landing on Demetrio as he rushes into the hospital.

“Hello, I’m looking for an Emeliana Delassaro…” He says quickly just as Jojo eyes him and begins to step out from behind the desk.

“I’ll take you to her…” Jojo says as Demetrio nods in appreciation and she leads him towards the waiting room where Emeliana currently is.

Emeliana who is still finding it hard to stop crying faces forward as soon as she heard footsteps approaching, her face lighting up as she prays the person coming is Demetrio. Demetrio follows after the woman and enters the waiting room, glancing around the room quickly in search for Emeliana until he finally spots her, sitting up in her chair and facing him.

“Emeliana…” Demetrio lets out in relief as he walks into the room.

“Demi…” Emeliana says softly as her eyebrows crease and she quickly stands up in her chair and rushes over to Demetrio, crying softly as she jogs up to him. Demetrio doesn’t waste a second and opens his arms wide for Emeliana just as she finally reaches him and wraps her arms around his torso tightly, placing her face against this black shirt as she begins to sob quietly.

“It’s okay, I’m here now…” Demetrio says soothingly as he holds her in his arms and rubs her back, resting his chin at the top of her head as he frowns to himself, wondering what happened to put her in such a state.

“Tell me what happened, where is Luca and Adriano, why did they leave you alone?” Demetrio says softly to her as he keeps his arms around her but it seems his questions only makes her more upset. Emeliana shakes her head a few times before she nuzzles her face against Demetrio’s chest and Demetrio sighs to himself, knowing that she will need to take her time to explain what happened, and before she does that, she will need to calm down…

“Shh, it’s okay now… I’m not going anywhere…” Demetrio reminds her and sighs to himself, feeling himself become angry as he begins to believe that maybe the Genovese had a major part to play in Emeliana’s emotional breakdown, and if that’s the case, then Demetrio will waste no time in making them pay for whatever wrong they have done…